Use the Summary area below to collaborate with your group to create your summary of the connections between white privilege, the colorblind perspective, and social dominance theory.
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Note:
You don't need to sign your work or indicate which sections you contributed; your facilitator can see your contributions in the history of the page. Your group summary should demonstrate your collaboration rather than being a collection of unconnected individual ideas. When your group decides that the summary is finished, have one group member remove "(Draft)" below so your facilitator will know that it is ready for review.
Summary
Below are the 5 points I (Beth Mowrey) chose from the article:
20. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s
magazines featuring people of my race.
5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me
The 4 listed above I choose from the sheer sense that they are true in my environment. I live and work around predominantly white people. I chose to live and raise my family in the state where I was raised and have a comfort level of the traditions and social styles. Because of this, the media (#20 and # 5) around me is centered on the people that live here, which are mostly white. I don’t see this as intentionally ignoring or neglecting other races.
When I spent 10 years living in a much more multi racial location, I remember initially taking notice to the black news anchor on the local news station. Then, when I moved to my current, mostly white location, I remember taking notice to how there was no representation of races as news anchors on any of the local channels. (Do you think other races tend to be looked at differently by the anchors? SR)
14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
This stands out to me because I have students of different races who receive gifted education services (which is what I teach). I now think about the weight they may feel to be overly competent to represent their races. I want to be more sensitive to this by never stating or implying anything that would increase these pressures.
Elizabeth "Libby" Pasquale
20. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
I chose this one and listed it at the top because I find it very important and very true. When growing up children relate to things that they can see themselves in. White children have the privilege of seeing their skin color portrayed in all books we read in school. In modern day schools books try to represent all races but are unable to represent every race on every page. More often than not there is a white child on every page. This is a huge advantage to white children relating to textbooks and educational resources. (Do you think this is something those who purchase the books think about? SR)
15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I chose this one because I have never given it a second thought that if I speak in a group I would be speaking for my race.
17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
Number 17 is important to me because I have gotten in political debates with friends in the past. Because of my skin color I was just expressing a single opinion and not being mistaken for “not fitting in” or being an “outsider.”
7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
When I do have children in the future I do not have to worry about them being confused about their race or where they came from when learning in school.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
This is one I never thought of before reading the list. If for some reason I wanted to only be in the company of my race I could arrange that without any effort.
Summary of the connections between white privilege, the colorblind perspective, and social dominance theory:
The white privilege, when not even realized by the white person who is benefitting, seems so closely related to the colorblind perspective. This is because to the unknowing white person, race seems irrelevant. This is a form of racism that stems from ignorance and not necessarily intent.
The colorblind perspective is connected to privileges that a white person experiences because both are not talked about. In the colorblind perspective we do not address the differences that occur between different racial groups. These topics are swept under the rug and thought as taboo to discuss. Because there is a disconnect with the lack of communication in a community on a topic many white people also turn a blind eye to the privileges that they receive.
Within the social dominance theory is social positionality, described on page 33 of the text. In the subjective dimension of social positionality, it relates to how one sees him/herself and how he/she thinks others see him/her. This may correlate to white privilege for those who see themselves as better or more privileged due to being white.Many people view themselves as the dominant culture and therefore do not realize the privileges they have because they are not discussed. I see that the two help build off of each other.
Home > Activity 4-A-3: White Privilege > Group C
Instructions:
Note:
You don't need to sign your work or indicate which sections you contributed; your facilitator can see your contributions in the history of the page. Your group summary should demonstrate your collaboration rather than being a collection of unconnected individual ideas. When your group decides that the summary is finished, have one group member remove "(Draft)" below so your facilitator will know that it is ready for review.
Summary
Below are the 5 points I (Beth Mowrey) chose from the article:
20. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s
magazines featuring people of my race.
5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me
The 4 listed above I choose from the sheer sense that they are true in my environment. I live and work around predominantly white people. I chose to live and raise my family in the state where I was raised and have a comfort level of the traditions and social styles. Because of this, the media (#20 and # 5) around me is centered on the people that live here, which are mostly white. I don’t see this as intentionally ignoring or neglecting other races.
When I spent 10 years living in a much more multi racial location, I remember initially taking notice to the black news anchor on the local news station. Then, when I moved to my current, mostly white location, I remember taking notice to how there was no representation of races as news anchors on any of the local channels. (Do you think other races tend to be looked at differently by the anchors? SR)
14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
This stands out to me because I have students of different races who receive gifted education services (which is what I teach). I now think about the weight they may feel to be overly competent to represent their races. I want to be more sensitive to this by never stating or implying anything that would increase these pressures.
Elizabeth "Libby" Pasquale
20. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
I chose this one and listed it at the top because I find it very important and very true. When growing up children relate to things that they can see themselves in. White children have the privilege of seeing their skin color portrayed in all books we read in school. In modern day schools books try to represent all races but are unable to represent every race on every page. More often than not there is a white child on every page. This is a huge advantage to white children relating to textbooks and educational resources. (Do you think this is something those who purchase the books think about? SR)
15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I chose this one because I have never given it a second thought that if I speak in a group I would be speaking for my race.
17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
Number 17 is important to me because I have gotten in political debates with friends in the past. Because of my skin color I was just expressing a single opinion and not being mistaken for “not fitting in” or being an “outsider.”
7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
When I do have children in the future I do not have to worry about them being confused about their race or where they came from when learning in school.
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
This is one I never thought of before reading the list. If for some reason I wanted to only be in the company of my race I could arrange that without any effort.
Summary of the connections between white privilege, the colorblind perspective, and social dominance theory:The white privilege, when not even realized by the white person who is benefitting, seems so closely related to the colorblind perspective. This is because to the unknowing white person, race seems irrelevant. This is a form of racism that stems from ignorance and not necessarily intent.
The colorblind perspective is connected to privileges that a white person experiences because both are not talked about. In the colorblind perspective we do not address the differences that occur between different racial groups. These topics are swept under the rug and thought as taboo to discuss. Because there is a disconnect with the lack of communication in a community on a topic many white people also turn a blind eye to the privileges that they receive.
Within the social dominance theory is social positionality, described on page 33 of the text. In the subjective dimension of social positionality, it relates to how one sees him/herself and how he/she thinks others see him/her. This may correlate to white privilege for those who see themselves as better or more privileged due to being white.Many people view themselves as the dominant culture and therefore do not realize the privileges they have because they are not discussed. I see that the two help build off of each other.